


Post It

by orphan_account



Category: Dancing with the Stars (US) RPF, Valdaya
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-03-21 13:03:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3693314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A few moments with Zendaya and Val at Trevor's birthday party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Post It

**Author's Note:**

> While this is based on actual events, this is fiction. It is my interpretation and imaginings of what happened, nothing more.

Zendaya stood on the red carpet, turning left and right as photographers snapped her picture.  Their voices merged chaotically around her as they yelled different poses at her.  She was pretty used to it by now, but it never failed to annoy her.  She made sure that her face never revealed her true feelings though. 

“How about a few with the birthday boy?” one of the photographers called.  Trevor approached her, placing his hand on her waist.  They both smiled and made faces as the cameras continued to flash.  It could be worse; at least she was with one of her best friends instead of milling around among hundreds of strangers.  Just a few more seconds and she could get off this carpet.  Trevor finally let her go and turned towards her, probably intending to lean in for a hug.  But at that exact moment, her gaze met someone else’s. 

He wore a white dress shirt and dark slacks, standing at the edge of the carpet and watching her.  From the glimpse of purple that she could see peeking out from between his shoes and pants, his sock game was as strong as ever.  A smile graced his lips, one of those smiles that he reserved for her when they were in the studio or with their families.  A smile that said he had missed her and was so incredibly happy and grateful that he was there with her now.  She had no control over her reaction to him as her mouth dropped and she snapped her fingers. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Trevor turn to see what had caught her attention.  He immediately placed a hand on her back to lightly push her in the direction that she so badly wanted to walk in.  Guilt pierced her for a brief moment; this was her best friend’s birthday party, yet all she wanted was to be across the room from him.  Zendaya quickly made eye contact with Trevor, but his expression told her that it was okay, that he understood.  And he did understand.  He was one of the few that did. 

She moved away from Trevor and walked down the carpet.  Her pace picked up the closer she got to him, as if her body craved contact with him just as much as her heart did.  His smile widened as his legs ate up the distance between them too.  Her lips unconsciously turned up to mirror his, her pulse racing.  Everything seemed to blur around her.  The photographers’ voices faded into the background, the flashes disappeared.  The only sound she could hear was her heart beating like a drum in her ears.  The world slowed down around them, culminating in a perfect, motionless moment the second his arms were finally wrapped around her, his lips pressed to her cheek. 

For that brief moment, there was only them; just Zendaya and Val, back together again.   

“Hey, baby,” he murmured. 

“Hi,” she answered.  She wanted to say more, to thank him for coming or for maybe just being who he was, but her emotions were all over the place.  She had asked him to come, after checking with Trevor to make sure that it was alright, so of course she knew that he would be there.  But knowing and seeing were two completely different things.  She was just so  _happy_ that he was there.  It bubbled up inside of her and filled her with such contentment that she could not help the sigh that escaped her. 

He was  _there._ With  _her._ And that was all that mattered. 

The flashes were what brought her back to herself.  She had momentarily forgotten that they were still on display for the press, but it seemed that Val had not since he was already pulling away.  They both turned back towards the cameras, smiling serenely and hiding any emotions that had previously been apparent. 

The only remaining sign of the happiness inspired by their reunion was the hand Val had placed on her hip.  His fingers tightened before sliding forward a bit and pulling her closer.  It was funny; Trevor had just had his hand in a similar position, but she had not experienced the same emotions with him.  Val’s thumb rested on the sliver of bared skin between her shirt and pants and she could not help the slight shiver that ran through her.  She swallowed, trying to control her breathing, but just being next to him was like an addict coming in contact with their drug of choice following a week of withdrawal. 

Alex had been right in what he said while she was in New Jersey.  She was so far gone. 

The photographers finally had their fill of the two of them together and asked for a few of Val by himself.  He obliged, slipping his hand off her hip, but not before brushing it softly across her back.  She could tell that he wanted to be out of the limelight and alone with her just as badly as she did, but he let the press get what they wanted.  Zendaya took a deep breath.  She would have him all to herself the rest of the night; she could handle a few more pictures. 

* * *

Later that evening, after dancing and socializing, Val led Zendaya to a fairly empty corner of the room.  They had joked around, Zendaya teasing him about the flamingoes on his shirt, and taken pictures with each other all night, simply basking in the other’s energy and presence.  Claire and Kazembe had talked to him earlier as well, asking about the upcoming season and whether or not he was as confident about Julianne becoming a judge as he had portrayed himself to be.  But Zendaya was tired of talking about work and it seemed as though Val was in agreement. 

“I wanted to ask you something tonight,” he said.  His voice was loud enough that she could hear him over the music, but not so loud that other people could hear him. 

“What?”

“I told you about our new studio in Sherman Oaks.  The grand opening is September 10th and I was hoping that you’d want to come.  You and your parents, maybe Deja, Dom, or Bella too.  Alex is going to be in town and I know he’d love to see you.” 

“And you?”

“You know I always love to see you.”  She smiled, leaning her head on his shoulder in a brief moment of weakness before pulling back.  They had had to tone down their social media contact due to all of the commotion caused by Sway and Zendaya knew that it had been hard for him not to seem more involved with her as their relationship evolved.  But it had not stopped him from texting her every day, whether for a few minutes in his spare time or for hours in the middle of the night. 

She was so tired of hiding how she felt from the world.  What did people think, that the universe magically matched souls based on age and sex rather than on how compatible one soul was with another?  Why did any society-based judgments matter as long as they loved each other? 

In the year and a half that she had known him, Val had never done anything to disrespect her or make her feel uncomfortable.  He had been there to support her, whether physically or over the phone, for every major development in her life since early 2013.  He had made her feel safe and loved in a world where that was becoming all too hard to find.  But all people saw was the age gap.  It did not matter that she would be eighteen and legal in a few short days; there would still be ten years between them and that freaked a lot of people out.  Even if they decided to give a public relationship a try in the future, some people would always categorize it as dirty simply because they had met and developed a close friendship when she was underage. 

Well screw them. 

“Can I see the pictures that you took earlier?” she asked. 

“Sure,” Val said, taking out his phone.  He stood beside her and watched the screen as she flipped through the images.  Each picture was a moment frozen in time, a memory that would never be forgotten because it continued to live on within Val’s phone.  Zendaya smiled at one in particular, noticing the contentment in Val’s face as she made a funny face on his shoulder.  It was just so them. 

“That one’s my favorite,” Val said.  She turned her head to look at him, his face mere inches from her own.  His gaze flicked down to her lips before he swallowed and looked back into her eyes.  He wanted to kiss her, she could tell, and the only thing holding him back was the fear of ruining her reputation. 

“Post it,” she said. 

“What?”

“Post it to Instagram, Twitter, whichever one you want.”

“Zendayachka, we can’t –

“We can.”

“You know what happened after Sway,” he said.

"Yeah, I do.  But I also know that this is our life and we’re letting other people judge us and decide if how we act and feel is right or wrong.  The way I feel about you, the way I feel myself light up when I’m around you…there can’t possibly be something wrong about that.  I’m sick and tired of hiding it and I know you are too.”

He cupped her cheek in his hand, his eyes asking if she was absolutely sure.  Once he posted it, there was no going back.  There would be repulsive comments and they both knew it. 

“Post it,” Zendaya said again, handing him his phone. 

“Okay,” he said.  He tilted the screen toward himself and scrawled  _Special_ in as the description.  All in all, he figured that it was not too shocking.  After all, he had told her that she was “one of a kind forever” on social media before. 

“Can you text it to me too?  I want to make it my home screen.”  He finished posting the picture to Instagram and Twitter before doing as she asked. 

“Now how about a dance?” he asked, leading her back to the floor. 

It was not until later that he noticed that she had posted the picture as well.


End file.
